Capacitive Sensors Boost Noise Immunity

A seven-member family of capacitive sensors improves noise immunity in a variety of products, including notebook computers, LCD monitors, printers, and household appliances. The sensor line is made up of the CAP1014, CAP1088, CAP1066, CAP1028, CAP1026, CAP1006, and CAP1005, which together provide designers with a wide variety of slider, button, proximity, and LED driver functionality. They are built with the company’s RightTouch architecture that inherently rejects analog noise, yielding a higher signal-to-noise ratio and making it easier to fine-tune touch thresholds. This family of devices has been created to minimize noise from inverters, DC-DC switching regulators, and wireless frequencies. As a result, small changes in capacitance can be better detected, results analyzed, and determinations made as to whether or not a touch took place. The capacitive sensor family is a dedicated register-based solution with a three-step tuning process that does not need flash memory preprogramming. In addition, each member of the RightTouch family comes standard with 8-kV ESD protection. Samples are available now. Production prices will range from $0.75 to $2.00 in 10k-piece quantities. SMSC, Hauppauge, NY. (631) 435-6000.